(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 3, MC 3 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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MERRIMACK COLLEGE (HE) 2 1 0 0 - 3 (2-7-3 overall, 1-5-2 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 2 0 1 1 - 3 (6-2-3 overall, 3-0-2 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
MC 4- 6- 4- 0-- 14 1 - 2 1 - 2
BC 14-13-11- 2-- 40 2 - 4 0 - 1
MC - Casey Guenther 12-13-10- 2 - 37 saves/3 goals (65:00) (Tie)
BC - Joe Pearce 2- 3- x- x - 5 saves/3 goals (26:18)
Matti Kaltiainen x- 2- 4- 0 - 6 saves/0 goals (38:42) (Tie)
Referee - Conrad Hache
Assistants - Hans Baker, Kevin Shea
Attendance - 5489 (this must have been Invisible Night at BC, because
about 2500 of these "spectators" were disguised as seats ... The
joys of midweek games and pre-sold tickets.)
1st Period
BC1 Andrew Alberts 1 (unassisted) 4:21
MC1 Tony Johnson 1 (Brent Gough, Jordan Black) 6:21
MC2 Mike Alexiou 1 (Tim Reidy, Steve Crusco) 14:30
BC2 Chris Collins 3 (John Adams, Ryan Shannon) 15:17
Penalties
None
2nd Period
MC3 Cryan Schmidt 2 (Tony Johnson, Marco Rosa) PPG 4:35
Penalties
BC Brian Boyle (holding) 3:50
MC Nick Pomponio (contact to head - charging) 7:24
3rd Period
BC3 Andrew Alberts 2 (Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon) 8:05
BC Timeout 19:09
MC Timeout 19:09
Penalties
BC Justin Dziama (contact to head - roughing) 12:41
Overtime
No Scoring
No Penalties
3 Stars - BC - Andrew Alberts (2G)
MC - Casey Guenther (37 saves, 3 goals)
BC - Chris Collins (1G, 1A)
Merrimack College:
F Brent Gough, Marco Rosa, Jordan Black
Tim Reidy, Steve Crusco, Mike Alexiou
Justin Mills, Brendon Clark, Matt Byrnes
NICK POMPONIO, DEREK KILDUFF, BLAKE STEWART
D Eric Pedersen, Bryan Schmidt
ROB LALONDE, TONY JOHNSON
Ryan Sullivan, Peter Hams
G CASEY GUENTHER, Jim Healey
Boston College:
F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, RYAN MURPHY
Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon, Stephen Gionta
Joe Rooney, Brian Boyle, Adam Pineault
Taylor Leahy, Ned Havern, Justin Dziama
D ANDREW ALBERTS, J.D. FORREST
John Adams, Brett Peterson
Greg Lauze, Ryan Foster (I didn't see him on the ice during the game)
G JOE PEARCE, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Merrimack College built a 3-2 lead on Boston College Tuesday night at BC,
but couldn't hold off the BC offense forever and the Eagles came back for
a 3-3 tie. BC freshman goaltender Joe Pearce saw his first college action
for the Eagles and had a rough outing, surrendering all 3 Warriors goals
in their first 8 shots on net. He was replaced by Matti Kaltiainen, who
held the fort until Andrew Alberts scored his second goal of the game to
tie it in the third period. The Merrimack defense and goalie Casey
Guenther bent but didn't break, surrendering 40 shots on goal but keeping
many of them to the outside and not giving up many rebound opportunities,
enabling them to preserve the point.
Coach Jerry York had apparently planned to go with Pearce in net prior to
knowing he was missing several regulars, but decided to give him his chance
anyway. BC was missing forwards Pat Eaves (knee), Ty Hennes (leg), Dave
Spina (ankle), and defenseman Peter Harrold (flu), and played just 5
defensemen in this game. Some fans noted that a couple more of the BC
players were fighting off flu or other illnesses but played anyway.
Merrimack was also a bit shorthanded, having lost forward Matt Johnson to
injury from an earlier game.
The first period started slowly, with both teams trying to connect on passes
but being off the mark. Pearce made his first save 3 minutes in (no
trouble)
and BC got on the board first when an attempted MC pinch at the point
failed and Andrew Alberts carried the puck down the left side on a 3-on-1
BC break. With the defense covering the pass option, Alberts glided down
to the right circle and fired a sharp wrist shot over Guenther's catching
glove for the 1-0 lead. Hard work by the top Merrimack line got that back
quickly, as their forechecking got the puck loose in the left circle and
it was passed back to the right point for Tony Johnson. As bodies went to
the front of the net for screens, he sent a low seeing-eye shot along the
ice and it found a gap and slid into the goal just inside the left post.
After that the game fell into its main rhythm, which was BC forwards cycling
deep and forechecking and Merrimack having a hard time getting the puck
out of the zone and connecting on passes. To their credit, Warrior players
did a good job pushing the puck to the corners and boards and not allowing
a lot of prime shots in the middle, but Guenther had to work hard all night
to protect his crease. Pearce got a save on a lone Lalonde slap shot, but
a subsequent turnover by BC in the neutral zone led to a quick 3-on-1
MC counter. A soft pass was pushed past the BC defenseman to the right
slot,
and Mike Alexiou collected it and swooped from right-to-left across the
goal mouth. Pearce went down, Alexiou waited him out, and he slid a soft
shot just past the goalie's toe and inside the post to put Merrimack up 2-1.
(That was just their 4th shot of the period, and they had 2 goals; Pearce
did not look real confident at this point.) BC got that one right back
with their own forechecking effort, with a scramble in the high slot popping
the puck loose for John Adams. His shot was tipped off Chris Collins for
the tying goal, flying high over the goalie's shoulder. The rest of the
period was BC forechecking, skating, shooting, and Guenther covering the
puck with few rebounds.
Play had been tight-checking and pushed mostly into the corners and along
the boards to this point. Not the most elegant of games from a fans point
of view, and one in which the referee let them play. In my opinion, too
much so. This was a game that demonstrated the deadening effect of allowing
holding/grabbing/hooking as a defensive technique rather than skating and
using body strength/leverage. Yes, it lets a slower, less-skilled team
like Merrimack stay competitive with BC, but there were plenty of plays
both ways that probably deserved penalty calls that were not given. There
were 3 penalties called in the entire game, and trust me, it wasn't because
there was open skating and little contact. For long stretches this game
looked more like a wrestling match in the corners than a hockey game, and
that is probably not a good thing. Once both teams figured out that the
referee wasn't going to call things, it became really hard to generate
good offense. BC's speed advantage enabled them to get free enough to get
a fair number of shots, but they weren't the highest-quality shots by and
large. (BC also set more picks than a good basketball team does, and got
away with it all night.) Merrimack didn't get a lot of offense, either,
having to work extra-hard themselves to get things going.
One of the few penalties was called early in the second period as BC's Boyle
went off for holding. The puck was moved around to the left point after
some time, and with players bunched in front of the goal Bryan Schmidt
sailed
a high wrister through the crowd toward the net. Pearce had dropped into
his butterfly and was startled to see the puck appear above his shoulder and
go into the net for a Merrimack lead. He did not appear confident at this
point and was sitting way too deep in his net to be effective, so after a
few moments of play, Matti Kaltiainen was put into the BC nets and Pearce
got a rest. Whether he made the difference or Merrimack just missed shots
from that point on, the Warriors did not score again after the switch. BC
put pressure on most of the remainder of the period, with Rooney dinging one
off the crossbar and an ineffective power play in the mix. Steve Gionta had
two opportunities, with Guenther barely holding his pads together on a low-
angle shot, then another shot saved prior to Gionta running through the
post and bodies going flying.
The third period was Merrimack sitting back to protect the lead (sort of)
and the Eagles pressing for the equalizer. Adams fired one off the outside
of the left post, Rosa's shot was saved by Kaltiainen, then Gionta was
in on a clean breakaway after a deflection in neutral ice but shot high.
Pressure continued, but BC was getting frustrated by the amount of effort
expended for little reward. Finally the pressure paid off after a faceoff,
when an initial shot was saved but a rebound left loose. Ryan Shannon's
rebound shot was blocked into the slot, where a mad scramble took place to
try to control the puck. Eventually it came loose to Alberts as he skated
in, and he moved to the right circle and fired a backhander that somehow
got by Guenther for the tying goal. (It was about mid-body and may have
handcuffed him ...) Once the game was tied Merrimack opened up their
skating again and had their best offense of the night, but Kaltiainen and
the BC defense was able to hold them off, killing a penalty in the process.
Neither team was able to get a great shot and it was off to overtime.
The two teams had never played to a tie, so it seemed as though someone
should score to end it in OT, but it never happened. BC had an early shot,
then Merrimack worked hard behind the net to try to get a shot off but could
not get free to shoot. BC had 2 good chances to close out the game, a
flat shot from almost a 90-degree angle that Guenther blocked down and was
able to cover just before it was tipped in, then a scramble that produced
a loose puck to the left of the crease with a wide-open net, only to see
the bouncing puck elude the BC forward and no shot result.
Both teams came away frustrated by this game, BC for dominating so much of
the offensive flow and possession and shots, yet getting only the 3 goals,
and Merrimack for surrendering the lead when it looked like they might
steal 2 points. In retrospect, if Kaltiainen is in net for BC, they would
probably have won the game, but it is hard to tell if Pearce was just the
victim of screened shots or made some bad goaltending decisions. In any
case, he got pulled and will have to wait for another chance to prove
himself. Guenther had a very good game in the Merrimack net, and the
style of play allowed their defense to be physical and push BC players to
the corners/boards and tie them up, which worked for them.
The BC offense was somewhat ineffective, though partly that was the work
of the Merrimack defense and goalie. The forwards were not generating good
offensive shots, with many of them coming from the side or with defensive
pressure. And bad luck was part of it, with BC credited with hitting 3
posts in the game. The ongoing injury bug is something the BC team has
had to deal with in the past few years off-and-on, and usually they settle
down and overcome it. With time, that will probably settle out. Before
this game, the offense had been effective if not prolific, and the defense
had been very strong. The power play unit has been less successful than
expected, with puck movement around the outside being plentiful but good
shots not resulting often enough. It doesn't help that 2 of the prime
power play snipers are out of the lineup currently, but still, it is a
cause for concern. Last year they put Alberts on the power play and let
him rip some booming slap shots from the point to open up the coverage,
but they haven't done that successfully yet this year. I wonder if they
will give that a try again.
BC stays undefeated in the league and in their last 5 games, and hosts
Providence College Friday night in their next Hockey East game. Merrimack
is winless in their last 8, though against some tough competition, and
gets a break from league action as they host Bemidji State for a pair of
games this weekend.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A patient BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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